Question Best bank for HK offshore corp

[fr33d0ml1fe]

Hi Guys

Our company is in Hong Kong, offshore company, with shareholders outside HK. Shareholders are Belize Trust and Corporate Nominee Director.

I have power of attorney to open a bank account for the company

What is the best bank for a company like this

1) With not an ancient internet banking interface
2) Low deposit to open account
3) With bank debit card (chip and pin)

A good % of our clients are in EU, some in US, some in UK, some AU - so we would like EU IBAN and swift? (sorry dont know too much about the differences)

Been suggested to look at Mauritius or Dominican republic......... good idea or any better to look at?

Thanks!

Sorry if it's been asked before

 

[Silvio]

HK owned by a Belize Trust and corporate nominee. Want a EU IBAN and Swift and low deposit and a card. You are 10 years too late, forget about it.

No bank in HK will touch you and no bank anywhere respectable will open account for such strcture. MAYBE you can find some EMI but it won't be easy nor cheap

This is 2021, such structures don't work anymore and are pretty useless since you as UBO will be reported anyway.

 

[carlosbl]

You can try Statrys (Multi-Currency Account). On the other hand you can try ABC Banking (Mauritius).

Anyway, from the compliance banking point of view, it is not going to be easy. You have to argument very well why this Belize Trust is going to develop economical activities in Hong Kong, etc.

 

[manukahoney]

If you have a decent lump sum to invest (think 9 figures) you might try to talk to small Swiss, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein banks.
IMHO, you have an impossible setup.

 

[Silvio]

If you have a decent lump sum to invest (think 9 figures) you might try to talk to small Swiss, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein banks.
IMHO, you have an impossible setup.

9 figures is a bit of an overkill but to interest Swiss, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein banks you will need at least 7 figures with this kind of setup. Some Liechtenstein banks will board you with just 500K but expect to pay high fees and it won't be a transactional bank account.

 

[fr33d0ml1fe]

We will look at Mauritius! Thanks for the messages thx!

 

[NoobDummy2020]

HK owned by a Belize Trust and corporate nominee. Want a EU IBAN and Swift and low deposit and a card. You are 10 years too late, forget about it.

No bank in HK will touch you and no bank anywhere respectable will open account for such strcture. MAYBE you can find some EMI but it won't be easy nor cheap

This is 2021, such structures don't work anymore and are pretty useless since you as UBO will be reported anyway.

Thank you for your valuable insight. I have a similar setup (HK regd. company, Belize Trust Nominee Shareholder, Seychelles nominee director) and was rejected by a Mauritian bank recently. Please consider that we are ready to pay taxes due and this is not of concern to us. What changes would you advise for such a setup to improve chances before applying to further HK banks or Mauritian banks?

We are already making the following changes based on knowledge gained from this thread/other threads:
a. Transferring shareholding's from Belize trusts back to UBOs (2).
b. Removing the nominee director and making a UBO the company director.

Any guidance will be highly appreciated.

 

[KillTheKing]

You can try Statrys (Multi-Currency Account). On the other hand you can try ABC Banking (Mauritius).

Anyway, from the compliance banking point of view, it is not going to be easy. You have to argument very well why this Belize Trust is going to develop economical activities in Hong Kong, etc.

Any chance you know in which banks Statrys has it's HK accounts?

 

[Silvio]

Thank you for your valuable insight. I have a similar setup (HK regd. company, Belize Trust Nominee Shareholder, Seychelles nominee director) and was rejected by a Mauritian bank recently. Please consider that we are ready to pay taxes due and this is not of concern to us. What changes would you advise for such a setup to improve chances before applying to further HK banks or Mauritian banks?

We are already making the following changes based on knowledge gained from this thread/other threads:
a. Transferring shareholding's from Belize trusts back to UBOs (2).
b. Removing the nominee director and making a UBO the company director.

Any guidance will be highly appreciated.

So eventually it will be a simple HK company?In that case you will have much easier time.

Find (or make up) some HK clients\suppliers, show the banks agreements\invoices with these clients\suppliers, tell the bank you need a bank account in HK in order to receive funds\pay suppliers in HK. Dress nice and show a good business plan and you have a great shot at opening accounts in local HK banks. Try DBS and hint that you are also interested in buying a life insurance policy, they love selling these and they get a fat commission on them.

 

[NoobDummy2020]

So eventually it will be a simple HK company?In that case you will have much easier time.

Find (or make up) some HK clients\suppliers, show the banks agreements\invoices with these clients\suppliers, tell the bank you need a bank account in HK in order to receive funds\pay suppliers in HK. Dress nice and show a good business plan and you have a great shot at opening accounts in local HK banks. Try DBS and hint that you are also interested in buying a life insurance policy, they love selling these and they get a fat commission on them.

Thanks for your invaluable tips. However, since its a company to just operate an interactive brokers HK account to trade and not carry out goods/services trade, how can we circumvent having to show HK clients / suppliers. Does a broker agreement with Interactive Brokers help with this in any way?

 

[Silvio]

Thanks for your invaluable tips. However, since its a company to just operate an interactive brokers HK account to trade and not carry out goods/services trade, how can we circumvent having to show HK clients / suppliers. Does a broker agreement with Interactive Brokers help with this in any way?

I don't think it will be helpful at all as the banks don't see any profit in it for them.

Most banks won't really check after account is open that you actually deal with local suppliers\clients. It's just a story to bypass the initial rejection.
Maybe if you tell the bank you want to invest in stocks THROUGH THE BANKS themselves they will be more interested.
HK banks sometimes but rarely check if your story actually matches the story you told them when you opened the account. If you want to be on safe side just open multiple accounts and sit on them doing nothing for 3-6 months.

 

[NoobDummy2020]

Any chance you know in which banks Statrys has it's HK accounts?

They use DBS HK.

 

[NoobDummy2020]

I don't think it will be helpful at all as the banks don't see any profit in it for them.

Most banks won't really check after account is open that you actually deal with local suppliers\clients. It's just a story to bypass the initial rejection.
Maybe if you tell the bank you want to invest in stocks THROUGH THE BANKS themselves they will be more interested.
HK banks sometimes but rarely check if your story actually matches the story you told them when you opened the account. If you want to be on safe side just open multiple accounts and sit on them doing nothing for 3-6 months.

Thanks for the tips. According to your experience does having a nominee director affect (impede) chances of getting a bank account?
For example, a HK company having a Seychelles nominee director; applying for a HK bank account. Can this lead to rejection? If yes, should the nominee director be avoided and UBO be the director themselves or get a local HK nominee director is better when applying for a HK bank account? Considering having to pay HK taxes on income is not an issue.

 

[Silvio]

Thanks for the tips. According to your experience does having a nominee director affect (impede) chances of getting a bank account?
For example, a HK company having a Seychelles nominee director; applying for a HK bank account. Can this lead to rejection? If yes, should the nominee director be avoided and UBO be the director themselves or get a local HK nominee director is better when applying for a HK bank account? Considering having to pay HK taxes on income is not an issue.

What is the purpose of having a nominee? Is it a Seychelles based physical person?

 

[NoobDummy2020]

What is the purpose of having a nominee? Is it a Seychelles based physical person?

Let’s just say, we were not guided and chose the option on a company order form to have a nominee director and nominee shareholder.

So, now we want to get rid of both the nominee shareholder (transfer to UBOs) and nominee director (make one of the UBOs the director); in order to avoid being rejected by a HK bank. Currently both DBS HK and HSBC are offering remote account opening facilities.

The nominee director is currently a Seychelles based person, yes

 

[Vince]

try Europacific Bank, I still have an account open there for my old Belize corp, although I haven't used it anymore for ages.

 

[fr33d0ml1fe]

Update

The HK company is 100% share holder by Belize trust, and nominated person is nominee director. I've been given power of attorney, we are going to open an account at Neat and Transfer wise to begin with. And then attempt private bank. Will update you soon

 

[John89]

I would assume that having everything based in HK (a HK nominee director, etc.) would be easier? I believe once they hear "Belize trust" the banks stop listening.

 

[Mark Rucken]

Update

The HK company is 100% share holder by Belize trust, and nominated person is nominee director. I've been given power of attorney, we are going to open an account at Neat and Transfer wise to begin with. And then attempt private bank. Will update you soon

TransferWise does not accept Hong Kong companies.

You can try Neat, that is a local EMI.